I have decided to backtrack the game story a bit. We shall start on the outskirts of Werstone, where Demy-Sefrab waits for any who will take up the call. Once everyone is gathered, the journey shall begin! This will give you all a chance to introduce your characters to the world. Feel free to post your intros as you will!

WerstoneThe town of Werstone is a town built of hardy Ironwood; treated against rot. It is walled by wooden poles two meters high to limit the amount of predators that could make their way inside. 1500 people live in or near Werstone, and most people know one another at least by name. Werstone sometimes holds travelers, who are trying to shortcut their way from Ralkhara or the eastern towns to the coast. As such, a small inn named Ratsrun has been erected, with a dozen rooms, hot meals and clean(ish) water.

Werstone contains two general stores where most basic supplies can be found. Hafyras runs a servicable blacksmith where he makes basic armaments, as well as nails and tools for general use. A small temple of Ilaxas, the Iguana-headed god of prosperity and plenty, is run by Jos-Kaleth.

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General house rules and thoughts

Just a couple of things I thought i'd run by you all which will hopefully make the game run a little tidier. All these thoughts are up for discussion and negotiation if you don't agree with them.

Initiative

To make life easier and speed up the game slightly, I thought that I would roll initiative for everyone whenever a combat starts. That way we won't have to wait for everyone (and their timezones) to roll their initiative before anything can happen. When combat begins i'll post up the initiative order in the OOC thread (which will be a separate thread from this), and everyone can post in the respective order. If someone fails to post for 24 hours (real life does happen; don't stress about it!) and it's their turn on the initiative list, i'll post their action based on their Standing Orders (See below) to keep the game-flow going. Before anyone's next action is registered, everyone must have a turn (I've learned my lesson from previous games ); the exception being if someone is disabled in some way.

Outside of combat, people may make actions in whichever order they wish.

Standing Orders

I would like everyone to PM me their standing orders. These are actions that I will take in your absence in the event that you are unable to post. This way, I can keep generally in-line with what your character would do in a combat situation. I don't want anything fancy, just some very basic guidelines. Here is an example:

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Moruz: Fighter lvl 1 - Standing OrdersNormal: Moruz will attempt to perform Power Attacks with his Melee Weapon.Low HP: Moruz will either fight defensively, or retreat to range and attempt to use his crossbow.Special: If someone else has low HP, Moruz will try and attack and distract whoever is attacking that person.

Combat Rolls

You may make all combat rolls if you like (I will trust and assume you know your characters' bonuses etc), or if you do not wish to make the rolls, I can make them for you once you post your action. You are in direct control of every action your character takes - you cannot take control of other characters or NPC's (with some leniency given: Basically, this is here to make sure you don't say "I swing my axe. The bad guy dies!") I will post the results of your attacks and actions.

Skill Rolls

All Knowledge rolls, Perception rolls and Stealth and disguise rolls will be made by me - if you roll for these, I will re-roll my own dice and use my own results. The purpose of this is that I may not want you to know the results. All you need to do is mention that you are attempting these things (whether through roleplaying or the spoiler tags for OOC chat)

When Knowledge, Sense Motive and Perception checks are made, the results will be PMed to whoever performed them. If you want the others to know the results, you must roleplay it: The other characters will not be aware of the information learned unless it is mentioned by the character.

Sometimes these checks, if made by multiple people, may yield different results via PM. I did not make a mistake (probably ); it is merely that your characters' perception based on the rolls I make.

All other checks may be rolled by you if you like.

Equipment

I have written everyone's character sheet and equipment in a notebook, and i'll try to remember to keep it relatively updated, however I will probably forget to add things from time to time. It may not hurt to keep a physical or mental note about what you own.

Experience

Experience will be given at the end of a scenario (e.g. a dungeon, or an encounter in the wild etc...). XP gains will be boosted somewhat. Bonuses will be granted for good roleplaying and storytelling, or clever ideas.

A mixture. Some buildings are near ground level; especially those on higher ground in the town and at lower risk of flooding, but most are suspended somewhat with poles to allow for wet weather. Some main paths have wooden walkways, and others are merely muddy pathways; Werstone is a place that is not designed to be pretty; it is not a tourist destination.

I see there was some banter between Echo and Goss in the chatbox about what is allowed with npc's, so I thought id make up this clause to help remove confusion and also allow the game to progress in a timely manner in the future.

The minor-NPC Clause: players may create, interact with and control minor, non-game-driven npcs to enhance or add flavour to the roleplaying experience; so long as they do not have any significant effect on the game. Major npcs (such as Demy-Sefrab and Tamyra) cannot be controlled by players.

For example, you may banter with patron at a bar, or create npcs out of your characters' personal history.

Please be aware that there are limitations to this. You cannot, for example, attack a minor NPC and describe the NPC getting struck - doing actions like this will turn the NPCs into major ones under my control. You are intelligent people; im sure you understand roughly what is and is not okay :p

I understand some people will want more action in the game, and others more role playing opportunities. I hope to find an equilibrium here which will satisfy you all :p

I have an idea, how bout when we speak in a different language, we PM the one we're speaking to and simply write something like, Zelas spoke to Auxzali in Quinnix, or maybe even spoke in a language noone recognized. That'll add that feeling of alienation, and leave it up to the receiver if they wish to share what was said, but of course the GM gets a copy of what was said, and anyone else who speaks that language will be sent a PM by the GM. Hmm?

It's up to you guys. I'm happy for you to do it the way you currently are if you like, or via pm. Just remember you are all supposed to work together :p it wouldn't do you well to exclude the other members of your party too much - they may decide to leave those two foreign-speaking savages to the wolves if the going gets tough

In that case, lets keep it how it is; perhaps using common tongue would be best within the group; rest assured, there will be situations down the track that may require knowledge of some of the languages you know.

I'm easy with whatever; I can twist anything around to help out your game experience so long as everyone else is happy.

Okay, just an idea. I know it would have required more work, but seeing as the tone of the game were kind of headed there anyways, with hidden rolls and Character Sheets, I just figured this would add to that and encourage more roleplaying, while actively help prevent meta-gaming, but okay.

Yeah, I know the strength check will probably fail, though pulling jury rigged shackles out of a cave wall should be easier than breaking the things. There doesn't happen to be a chisel in the room? :p

Logged

For the love of meat, shut up! No one wants to hear your emo character background! My hands are literally melting away, and I'm complaining less than you!—K'seliss, Goblins

I just thought you guys would like a quick map to get a basic visual on where you're up to. I originally had planned to do gridmaps for each area and even drew some up, but it was going to be a hassle to scan 'em all and post them up, so I figured i'd go without.

Nevertheless, here's a crappy MSpaint view to see what's up.

Red are enemies encountered (or traps)Orange is neutral NPCsGreen is where the PC's started.